French cuff



Sept. 20, 1949. R. Q'KENNEDY FRENCH CUFF Filed July 9, 1947 E 1 M J. .0 L

m o m 2 n .3

M a 0n 0 M 5 Q-.-

W. .0 W @AA;

F w l 0 0 m M 6 4 m 3 J m 1 m u M M 2 Inven 'l'or Bzzkamz oalac 7 W flaw, r A

Patented Sept. 20, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRENCH cm Richard Oakley Kennedy, New York, N. Y. Application July 9, 1947, Serial No. 759,820

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of cuffs and more particularly to mens French cuffs and securing means therefor.

The conventional cuffs for mens shirts are either of the barrel type or the French type, The latter is more desirable from the standpoint of dressiness and is comprised of a cuff member attached along one edge to the lower edge of the shirt sleeve, the member being folded substantially midway of its length back upon itself .to provide inner and outer panels joined by a, fold line which constitutes the edge of the cuff. Customarily, the ends of the folded cuff are secured together with cuff links which are pressed through aligned eyelets or buttonholes in these panels. Unattached cuff links have long been a major source of irritation because of the difficulty of inserting and fastening them in place and because they are either lost or misplaced at the moment they are most, needed. Numerous efforts have, therefore, been made to provide connecting means for a folded French cuff to make it as practical as the barrel cuff while effecting the attractive appearance of the French cuff.

Objects of the present invention are to provide improved and simple fastening means for a French cuff which will be easy to manipulate and durable while preserving the neat and attractive appearance of the French cuff and will facilitate laundering of the shirt cuff without damage to the individual fastening elements.

With these objects in view, the cuff is composed of a member of suitable textile material having at least one side composed of a finely-finished cloth which will launder to provide a suitable display surface. Fixed to the member at the opposite sides of a medial line running from end to end thereof and about which the member is folded to provide the inner and outer panels of a folded cuff, there are buttons and buttonholes, the buttons bein engageable with the holes to hold the panels folded with the button exposed through the buttonholes in the outside or visible one of the panels. Also fixed to that portion of the panel to which the buttons are fixed are the elements of a separable snap fastener, these elements facing inwardly of the inner one of the panels and being brought into engagement when the ends of the folded cuff are brought together about the wrist to hold the same in position. As

thus constructed, the separable elements are situated between the panels, and are invisible from the outside of the cuff. l

The invention will now be described with ref erence to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a planview of the inner side of the cuff member unfolded;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the outside of the cuff member unfolded;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the folded cuff showing the display side of the outer one of the panels;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the folded cuff showing the inside of the inner one of the panels;

Fig. 5 is a'perspective view of the folded cuff with its ends brought together and fastened to encircle the wrist;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5 showing the fastening means; and

Fig. '7 is a diagrammatic section through the cuff on the line '!---I of Fig. 4 showing an interlining.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a cuff l0 'opened out into a fiat condition and joined at one edge to a shirt sleeve Ill. The cuff member is composed of two layers-of cloth H and I6 joined face to face along their bounding edges l8 and 20 except for the edge 28by stitching 22, the edges of the layers being suitably folded in at 23 to provide for a neat, smooth appearing seam. The unjoined edges 28 of the layers l4 and, I6 are also folded in at 24 and 2B and stitched to the opposite faces of the sleeve I2 by a line of stitching 29. It is customary in the manufacture of French cuffs to make both the inside and outside layers It and N5 of fine material which, wfien laundered, will afford an attractive finish'ed appearance. In the present construction, however, since the cuff normally will be held in a folded condition, as will appear hereinafter, the inner layer l4 may be of a coarser cloth commonly known as lining material since it will not be visible. In some instances it may be desirable to include between the inner and outer layers of cloth a stiffening layer or interlining l5 (Fig. 7). The interlining provides 'for'a stiffer cuff, that is one which will retain a freshly laundered appearance for a longer time and also affords a reinforcement to which the fastening elements may be anchored.

The cuff member, as thus formed and in its flat condition, is substantially rectangular having longitudinal edges and ends and is adapted to be folded on' a medialline 30 substantially midway between its opposite edges I8 and 28 to form a folded French cuff, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 consisting of inner and outer panels 34 and 36, the latter being folded on the former and the line of fold 32 forming the peripheral edge of the cuff when its ends are brought together to e" I circle the wrist of the wearer.

To hold the panels 34 and 86 in folded relation there are provided fastening means. These means comprise buttons 38 and buttonholes 40 disposed at opposite sides of the medial fold line 30 substantially equidistant therefrom and at opposite ends of the cuff panels. By folding the panel 36 forwardly, as shown in Fig. 1 over the panel 34 or rearwardly as shown in Fig. 2 over the panel 34 and-engaging the buttonholes 4'0 with the buttons, the panels may be secured in engagement with each other. These buttons serve only to hold the folded panels together and do not function to hold the opposite ends of the folded cuff together when they are brought together about the wrist.

In order to hold the cuff in the wrist encircling position, that is, to fasten the opposite ends of the cuff together, as shown in Fig. 5, there is provided additional fastening means in the form of a separable snap fastener consisting of the elements 42 and 44 which are fixed in the panel 34 adjacent to the buttons 38 and so positioned, as illustrated in Fig. 6, that when the opposite ends of the folded cuff are brought together, the elements 42 and 44 may be engaged to hold the cuff in its closed position. The snap fastener elements, as shown, are slightly nearer the ends of the cuff than are the buttons, however it is within the scope of the invention to move them one way or the other relative to the buttons and the ends of the cuff to afford the best results. Since the elements 42 and of the snap fastener are located on the inner panel they will not be visible when the cuff is folded and brought into closed position from the outside because they lie behind the outer panel 36.

By providing the combined fastening means which consists of the buttons 38 and buttonholes 40 and the snap fasteners 42 and 44, it is apparent that the convenience of an ordinary barrel button cuff may be had together with the attractive appearance of a French cuff without incurring the disadvantages and annoying features of the French cuff; that is, the present cuff may be folded before the shirt is put on to secure a smooth,even fold line at which time the buttons may be engaged with the buttonholes with a minimum of difliculty since both hands may be employed for performing this operation before the shirt is donned. After the shirt is donned the ends of the cufl may easily be brought together with the snap fasteners engaged with the rninimum of manipulation since it is only necessary to press the parts toward each other to brin about engagement of these elements. Moreover, since the snap fasteners are permanently secured to the inner panels there is no danger of losing or misplacing these as they will always be present. The buttons are also secured to the inner panel and therefore will always be in place. An additional and important feature of the present construction is that the buttons 38 are at opposite ends of the panel 34 as are the snap fastening elements 42 and 44 and hence when the shirt is being laundered, particularly when it is being ironed under a steam press, no two of these elements are in contact with each other either before or after the cuff member is folded and hence there is no chance of pressing one against the other so that breakage would occur.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a shirt cuff having inner and outer panels the latter being folded on the former and the line of fold forming, when the ends of the cuff are brought together, theperipheral edge thereof, means near the ends of the cuff for holding the ends of the inner panel together comprising interengageable snap fasteners the component parts of which are fixed to the inner panel and in positions to lie opposite to each other when the ends of the folded cuff are brought together, and button elements fixed to the inner panel between the panels, said outer panel having buttonholes therein, and said button elements projecting through said buttonholes in the outer .panel and by engagement with the outer surface of the outer panel holding the panels folded.

2. In a shirt cuff having inner and outer panels I the latter being folded on the former and the line of fold forming, when the ends of the cuff are brought together, a peripheral edge, and wherein the inner panel is attached to the sleeve of the shirt, means invisible from the exposed surface of the folded cuff for separably joining the ends of the cuff to maintain the cuff in wristencircling position, said means being permanently fixed to the inner panel, and visible means in the form of buttons permanently fixed to the inner panel between the panels and projecting through buttonholes in the outer panel to hold the panels folded.

3. In a shirt cuff composed of a laminated cloth member having longitudinal edges and ends amxed along one longitudinal edge to the sleeve of a shirt, spaced buttons and buttonholes lying near the opposite ends of the member on opposite sides of a medial line dividing the member longitudinally between its longitudinal edges and forming a fold line upon which the member is folded to provide inner and outer panels, said inner and outer panels being held together by engagement of the buttons through the buttonholes, and matable snap fastener elements fixed to the inner panel adjacent to the buttons but spaced therefrom for disengageably holding the ends of the inner panels and hence the folded panels in wrist-encircling position.

4. In a shirt cuff composed of a cloth member having longitudinal edges and ends affixed along one longitudinal edge to the sleeve of a shirt, buttons and buttonholes near the opposite ends of the panel lying on opposite sides of a medial line extending longitudinally of the cloth member from end to end and about which the member is folded in a manner to engage the buttonholes over the buttons, and separable snap fastener elements fixed to that portion of the member to which the buttons are attached, said snap fastener elements being engageable to hold the folded member in wrist-encircling position.

5. In a shirt cuff comprised of a multiple cloth member having longitudinal edges and ends affixed along one edge to the sleeve of a shirt, buttons and buttonholes near the opposite ends of the member lying on opposite sides of a medial line extending longitudinally of the member from end to end and about which the member is folded in a manner to engage the buttonholes over the buttons, and cooperable snap fastener elements fixed to that portion of the member to which the buttons are attached but spaced therefrom and engageable to hold the folded member in wristencircling position, said buttons and snap fastener elements lying in positions out of engagement with each other when the member is in its fiat or folded position.

6. A cuff comprised of a substantially rectangular piece of fabric having longitudinal edges and ends attached along one longitudinal edge to the lower edge of a split sleeve, said piece being folded upon itself along a line substantially midway between its longitudinal edges to form inner and outer panels, the fold line constituting a circumferential edge of the cuff when the ends of the folded panels are brought together, means for joining the ends of the folded panels near their longitudinal edges comprising inter-engageable snap fasteners, the component parts of which are secured in opposed relation to each other to the inner panel to hold the ends of the folded cufl' closed, and button elements attached to the inner panel between it and the outer panel, the latter having button holes positioned to receive through them the buttons fixed to the inner panel for engagement with the outer panel to hold the outer panel folded against the inner panel.

RICHARD OAKLEY KENNEDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS 

